


Lost & Found

by bugiblu



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Angst, But mostly fluff, Caring Minhyun, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Traumatised JR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-08 03:28:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21229040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bugiblu/pseuds/bugiblu
Summary: Minhyun prided himself on having a neat and organised home, and was generally careful with who he invited inside. Picking up a mysterious boy off the street was clearly out of character for him.





	Lost & Found

Minhyun was walking home after a long day at his office. He had gotten his dream job, with a good salary. But the workdays were also long. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. It was worth it. For his dream.

Only street lights lit up the pavement. Minhyun had almost reached his apartment complex when he spotted a huddled shadow near the wall. Walking closer it became clear that it was a human, and Minhyun got worried. Had one of his elderly neighbours fallen over? He rushed up to the figure. 

Instead of the gray hair of an old lady, his eyes fell on deep black tousles. Minhyun cautiously walked up to the person. “Excuse me? Are you okay?” Minhyun asked without getting a reaction. Praying to not have stumbled upon a dead body, Minhyun carefully placed his hand on the person’s shoulder. To his relief he felt the shoulder softly move up and down by the breathing of the figure. Maybe it was just a passed out drunk that he should leave alone. 

Minhyun almost stepped away when the boy turned his head over in his sleep. He was extremely pretty, but Minhyun’s eyes immediately fell on a big bruise forming on the boy’s cheek. Minhyun then took in the rest of the boy’s appearance. His clothes were dirty and torn, and the dark locks were tangled and unwashed. 

Without really realising what he was doing, Minhyun lifted up the boy princess style. Even in Minhyun’s arms he was still asleep. He carefully carried him inside the building in his arms, only slightly shifting his weight to let the pocket with his electronic key press against the keypad. He hesitated a moment when he got inside, and then opted to place the sleeping boy on his couch. The boy shifted slightly in his sleep, but did not wake up, and Minhyun carefully put a blanket over him. 

Then he paused. This behaviour was definitely out of place for him. Minhyun prided himself on having a neat and organised home, and was generally careful with who he invited inside. Picking up a mysterious boy off the street was clearly out of character for him. Yet he felt his eyes soften as he looked at the boy. There was a protectiveness that he could not explain. Minhyun sat down with his head in his hands, hoping he would not regret this. 

Minhyun went to get changed, and then started with dinner prep when he noticed the boy stirring. 

The boy sat up with a quick motion, with a panicked expression. Minhyun walked up so he was visible, and held his hands up so that the boy could see that he didn’t mean any harm. “Hello, my name is Hwang Minhyun and I found you outside the building. You looked cold, so I took you inside. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Minhyun said slowly and calmly. The boy looked back at him with huge eyes. “If you want to leave I won’t stop you, but if you want to take a shower and have some food first I would love if you stayed,” Minhyun added.

The boy kept looking at him with caution. “The bathroom is just over there, I left a clean change of clothes too,” Minhyun added helpfully, and the boy’s stare followed his hand. Then he slowly got up and disappeared into the bathroom. Minhyun let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in when the bathroom door closed. 

By the time the boy exited the bathroom Minhyun had quickly vacuumed the couch, folded up the blanket, and finished making dinner. With washed hair and clean clothes, the boy looked a lot better, even if the bruise still stood out against his pale skin. The clothes were a bit oversized on him, making him look small and fragile. Minhyun took in his big eyes and soft features. He was truly cute, even if there was something hard in his eyes. 

“Are you hungry?” Minhyun asked. The boy looked suspiciously at him, but then his stomach made a sound that gave him away. Minhyun smiled. “I made enough for both of us, please have some.” The boy carefully sat down at the table, on the far side from Minhyun. 

He peered suspiciously at the food at his plate, while Minhyun was trying to not be too obvious about looking at him. The boy carefully stabbed a piece with his fork and slowly tasted it. Then his eyes lit up and he threw himself over the remaining food. Minhyun leaned his head down over the food to hide his smile. 

The boy seemed unwilling to talk, so they ate in silence, with the boy focused on the food and Minhyun occasionally stealing a glance at him. They finished the meal quickly, and the boy started looking around Minhyun’s apartment a bit more, before he seemed to focus on something. Minhyun followed his gaze. Ah, the gaming system. 

Minhyun rarely had time to play, but had gotten it at one point before he had gotten more responsibilities at work. “Do you want to play?” he softly asked the boy. His question was met by big eyes and a small, careful nod. “Okay, I will start it up for you,” Minhyun said with a smile and walked over to the console. The boy trailed behind and gingerly sat down in one corner of the couch.

Minhyun hit the power button and grabbed one of the controllers. He placed the controller on the table near the boy. “I’m just going to clear up after the dinner, you can look around a bit and see if you find anything you want to play.” Minhyun walked back to the table to pick up the plates, and could out of the corner of his eye see the boy reaching to pick up the controller. Minhyun let the boy be while he put away their tableware in the dishwasher and rinsed the pan. 

By the time Minhyun finished, the boy had selected a game and was going through the game play menus. Minhyun sat down on the other end of the couch and watched him start to create his character on the screen. “Is it okay if I ask what your name is?” Minhyun shifted his gaze to watch the boy. The boy froze for a moment, but then continued with the game as if he had not heard Minhyun. Minhyun felt a bit discouraged, but then he looked back to the screen. The boy had opened the avatar name option and started writing. “J-O-N-G-H-Y-U-N,” Minhyun read each letter out loud. “Your name is Jonghyun?” The boy gave a soft nodd without letting his eyes leave the screen. Then he seemed to hesitate for a moment. Minhyun watched curiously as the boy, Jonghyun, left the character picking screen and went back to the main menu. Jonghyun then changed modes from single-player to let it hover over multiplayer. He looked up to Minhyun. “Do you want me to play together with you?” Minhyun asked Jonghyun, meeting his eyes. Jonghyun hesitantly nodded. Minhyun could only smile in response and got up to get the other controller.

Jonghyun turned out to be really good at the game, and Minhyun never stood a chance. He could not help stealing glances at the boy, and felt a spark of joy when he noticed that the corners of Jonghyun’s mouth was starting to turn upwards. 

After Jonghyun’s fifth consecutive victory, Minhyun regretfully realised he had to go to sleep to wake up in time for work the next day. “Jonghyun..”, the boy almost jumped when Minhyun said his name. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you,” Minhyun apologised. “I need to go to bed soon, but you are welcome to stay the night in my guest room if you are okay with it?” Jonghyun hesitated for a moment, then he nodded and started to get up from the couch. Minhyun turned off the TV with the remote and stood up as well. 

Jonghyun looked at Minhyun with a bit unsure eyes, blinking more than what was normal. “The guest room is over here,” Minhyun quickly showed Jonghyun the spare room. He had let the boy borrow a pajamas and given him a toothbrush. Finally he could settle down in his own room. Minhyun sat down on the bed and sighed. This night had been extremely unlike him, but there was something about the boy that made him unable to leave him alone. Minhyun shook his head and got ready for bed. He needed sleep before work tomorrow, and when he returns from work tomorrow the boy would likely be gone and none of Minhyun’s concern anymore. 

The next morning Minhyun awoke to the buzzing of his alarm. He drowsily pressed the “stop” button on his phone and sat up in bed. He shuffled out of bed and immediately began to tidy up the bed, putting the bedspread over the blankets, and arranging the decorative pillows neatly on top. He stood back for a moment to admire his work, then turned around and started to get dressed. 

Minhyun was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, when he heard the sound of someone walking over the floor. He turned around to look at a sleepy Jonghyun, with bed hair standing up at one end, trying to hide a yawn. “Good morning,” Minhyun smiled at him. “I’m preparing breakfast now, I’ll make some for you too.” The boy nodded and rubbed his eyes, before wincing slightly as he accidentally brushed his bruise. 

“Are you feeling better today?” Minhyun asked Jonghyun, who looked at him with those dark eyes. He got a hesitant nod in reply. “That’s good,” Minhyun said with a soft smile. Jonghyun silently watched him while he continued with breakfast. 

Minhyun swiftly set the table and took a seat. Jonghyun took the same seat as last night, the furthest away from Minhyun, but did not seem as much on the edge as then. He was still really focused on the food, and Minhyun could not help watching him hungrily eat. 

“Jonghyun?” Minhyun said to get the attention of the boy. “I need to leave for work soon, but you are welcome to stay longer if you want to rest a bit more. The door locks itself, so you don’t have to think about locking.” Jonghyun solemnly looked at him while Minhyun stood up, and then softly nodded. “Okay, have a nice day, Jonghyun-ah,” Minhyun added before picking up his suitcase and leaving for work. 

Minhyun struggled with focusing on work that day. Somehow Jonghyun popped up in his thoughts constantly, distracting him with worries about the boy. No, Minhyun shook his head to clear his mind. Jonghyun would be gone tonight after all. There was no point dwelling more on it. Minhyun sighed and threw himself over work again. He still had a lot to do before he could leave for the day.

It was dark out when Minhyun left work. Just like the day before. Without meaning to, Minhyun found himself walking faster than he normally does. He opened the door to his apartment and was met by more darkness. Of course it would be dark, Minhyun, he scolded himself. But he could not help but feel a small pang of sadness. Minhyun turned on the light and took off his coat to hang it up on the coat rack. Then he turned back again to face the room. 

Minhyun felt his eyes widen by surprise. Curled up on the couch asleep, game controller in hand, was Jonghyun. 

A smile played on Minhyun’s lips. “Jonghyun-ah,” Minhyun said softly, walking up to the sleeping boy. He reached out a hand to smooth Jonghyun’s soft hair, making the boy turn a bit in his sleep. Minhyun removed his hand and instead walked around the couch to take the controller out of Jonghyun’s hand. After putting it back in its place Minhyun took out a blanket and carefully tucked in the other boy. 

Jonghyun woke up for dinner, and the events from the night before repeated, with a dinner in silence followed by playing some racing video game, before Minhyun had to go to bed. Alone in his room, Minhyun found himself unable to stop smiling. Jonghyun had stayed! The boy was a soft presence, that lit up his apartment even if he did not talk. Minhyun felt comfortable having him there, which normally was really uncharacteristic for him. Jonghyun had become that exception. 

At work the next day, some of his coworkers could not help but commenting on Minhyun’s glow up. He laughed and waved it off, but when a coworker replied with a question if he had gotten a girlfriend as Minhyun mentioned leaving early, Minhyun panicked a bit. “Ah, no, I’m, uhm, fostering a.. puppy! that has been living with me for a few days. That’s why I need to go earlier.” One of his female coworkers brightened up “Oh! I love puppies! You have to show us a picture!” At this point Minhyun was already halfway out the door, “I will next time!” he replied while hurrying away, cursing himself a bit under his breath. And that is how Jonghyun came to wake up to a stressed-looking Minhyun Googling cute puppy pics next to him on the couch. 

One more day of work, and then suddenly Minhyun found himself stopping outside a convenience store after work Friday afternoon. It was a Friday after all, maybe he should get some beer to bring home and drink with Jonghyun? Minhyun normally was not a fan of alcohol, but there was a small voice in his head telling him that he maybe could get Jonghyun to talk after a few beers. The boy had not said a word since he had moved into Minhyun’s apartment. Fried chicken and beer started to sound really good to him. Nodding his head in resolution, Minhyun took up his phone to call in the fried chicken order. He would pick up some beer at the convenience store near his apartment. 

“Jonghyun-ah?” Minhyun softly called as he entered his apartment. Two dark eyes below messy bangs peered curiously over from the couch. “I ordered fried chicken on the way home. Do you want to have some beer and play games while we wait?” Minhyun held up the bag so Jonghyun could see. The boy seemed to hesitate at first, but then nodded enthusiastically. 

They ended up playing the racing game again. Minhyun never stood a chance against the other boy, but he loved Jonghyun’s smile when he was winning. Minhyun sipped his beer a bit between races, while gazing over to Jonghyun. The boy was too into the game to remember his glass, leaving the beer untouched on the table. Minhyun took another sip, then the doorbell buzzed. “Oh, the chicken must be here. I’ll go get it,” Minhyun distractedly told Jonghyun as he got up and grabbed his wallet on the way to the door. 

Minhyun paid, and the delivery man handed over the bag with chicken and pickled radish. “Hey, Jonghyun, do you want to watch some tv instead while eating?” Minhyun asked. “It will be difficult to eat and play at the same time.” Jonghyun nodded, and took the remote to start flipping through the channels while Minhyun unpacked the food. He settled on a popular comedy variety show and looked towards Minhyun for okay. “That’s okay!” Minhyun said when he noticed Jonghyun looking. 

Minhyun settled back into the couch and held out a plastic glove for Jonghyun. After the boy accepted it, Minhyun took out another glove for himself. He then lifted his beer glass with his non-gloved hand. “Cheers for Friday night.” Jonghyun lifted up his glass in response and let his glass clink against Minhyun’s. They each took a sip. “Okay, now let’s eat, I’m starving!” Minhyun told Jonghyun, and they both started tearing into the fried chicken. 

The show turned out to be better than Minhyun had expected, and he found himself laughing out loud a few times. They had both finished their initial beer glasses, and Minhyun had quickly refilled them again. Jonghyun seemed glued to the show, while Minhyun couldn’t help stealing glances at him occasionally. They finished the chicken and Minhyun refilled the beer again. The comedy variety continued into a double episode, and neither boy made a move to return to the game, so they continued to watch the variety, beer in hand. 

Minhyun had just taken a sip of beer when they one of the cast members made a particularly funny joke and he almost spurted out the beer. He managed to save it with just a few coughs, but as he put down the beer glass on the table he heard a quiet “ha hat” from Jonghyun’s side of the couch. Minhyun laughed a bit at himself too, and as they kept watching the show, the “ha hat”s grew louder in volume until even Jonghyun was laughing outright at the jokes. 

The show ended and the preview for a more boring program was shown. Minhyun started to pack up the fried chicken carton and waste when he noticed Jonghyun eyeing the game controller. “Do you want to play a bit more?” Minhyun asked, and was met by sparkling eyes and an enthusiastic nod. “Could you start up the game while I get rid of this?” Minhyun checked with Jonghyun, who had already taken hold of the remote control to switch source. He smiled a bit bashfully, and Minhyun chuckled a bit while getting rid of the trash. 

Jonghyun had once again picked the racing game that seemed to be his favourite. It was also good for multiplayer, even if Minhyun was nowhere near Jonghyun’s skill level. “Hey, Jonghyun-ah? Is there a reason you don’t talk?” Minhyun decided to throw out as they started the second lap. Jonghyun promptly ran off the road. Minhyun decided to be quiet and not pressure Jonghyun, and instead focused on the game. “...I don’t like my voice,” Jonghyun whispered quietly after a few seconds. Minhyun waited a heartbeat to see if he was saying anything more. “You have a nice laugh,” Minhyun added in a casual tone when Jonghyun remained silent. He could see the other boy blushing, so he decided to not push more today. He had gotten more than he expected today, and he did not want to ruin that trust. 

Jonghyun won the race again (even after falling off the road) and Minhyun came second last. “Woahh, you’re so good at gaming! I need to practice more!” Minhyun exclaimed with a laugh while stretching a bit. He waited for Jonghyun to click through the menu to start another race, but the other boy seemed to hesitate a bit. “...I have played this game a lot,” Jonghyun whispered again. The game was still at the same menu, without Jonghyun clicking through to continue, so Minhyun stayed quiet, waiting for the boy to finish what he wanted to say. “...thank you for letting me stay here,” Jonghyun finally said, looking down. Minhyun looked at Jonghyun. “It’s no problem at all, it’s nice to have company,” Minhyun replied softly. 

They stayed quiet for another minute, Jonghyun’s eyes not leaving the floor. “Jonghyun-ah,” Minhyun finally said. “Do you want to play another round?” Jonghyun lifted his head to nod, and they started the game again. Minhyun was really happy that Jonghyun had opened up a bit more. He could probably push him a bit more, but he felt it would be better to stay patient and let Jonghyun share when he felt more comfortable. They did not talk more that night, but when Minhyun wished Jonghyun a good night, he heard a faint “...good night,” in reply.

Minhyun woke up early the next morning. Even if it was a Saturday he preferred to not sleep in. Saturdays were usually the days he did an extra thorough cleaning of his apartment, and even with Jonghyun there he did not feel like this week had to be an exception. As every day, Minhyun neatly made his bed before switching from his pyjamas to casual day clothes. He decided to start in the bathroom, scrubbing every surface, before moving out to the living room, duster in hand. Minhyun carefully removed his few ornaments and perfumes to dust the shelves. He meticulously wiped all surfaces in the kitchen, and was just about to take out the vacuum cleaner when a sleepy Jonghyun opened his door. “Good morning, Jonghyun-ah,” Minhyun said with a smile while Jonghyun peered curiously at the vacuum cleaner Minhyun was holding. “I’m going to clean a bit more before breakfast,” Minhyun said. “If you’re hungry you can start setting the table and I’ll join you in a bit.” Jonghyun nodded and shuffled towards the kitchen, while Minhyun took the opportunity to open the door to the guest room. 

The guest room was mostly still clean, partly since Jonghyun had not brought any personal items. The pile of clothes Minhyun had left him to pick from and borrow when Jonghyun seemed to be staying longer was still mostly neat, with some used clothes left more messily on a chair. The bed was not made, but the floor was empty. Minhyun briskly vacuumed the floor, and then paused for a moment. His fingers were itching to make the bed. He pulled the blankets straight and adjusted the pillows. Better. 

Minhyun vacuumed the remaining rooms, and as he put away the vacuum cleaner he noticed a delicious scent coming from the kitchen. Minhyun followed the scent to its source and was greeted by the wonderful sight of Jonghyun carefully watching over a perfect omelette in the frying pan. 

“Jonghyun-ah, it smells amazing!” Minhyun said with a smile as he walked into the kitchen. He noticed that the table had already been set. Maybe he had taken too long cleaning so that Jonghyun had started cooking since he was hungry? 

Jonghyun turned around when he heard Minhyun’s voice. He shyly looked away again after hearing the compliment and returned to focus on the omelette, “mm.” The small acknowledgment made Minhyun smile. With Jonghyun’s omelette looking like it was almost done, Minhyun decided to take out the perishables and put on the table. He filled two glasses with orange juice and placed a small yoghurt cup next to each plate.

Their days together continued in a similar way. Jonghyun would slowly open up more to Minhyun. Minhyun let Jonghyun borrow his old phone and got him a prepaid sim-card so that they could text each other. This helped even more, since Jonghyun was more talkative in texts. 

Jonghyun also started taking up cooking more. He could not do anything complicated, but given time and a recipe his dishes usually turned out edible or even good. Minhyun started more and more often get a text at work with Jonghyun’s grocery wishes that day. He had started to let Jonghyun use his laptop at home, and his browsing history was usually a mix of recipes for Korean, Japanese and Thai cooking, mixed in with some popular anime shows.

Their unexpected cohabiting continued happily like this for awhile. Until That Day. 

Minhyun unlocked the door and was greeted by darkness. “Jonghyun-ah?” He called, wondering if the other boy had fallen asleep. Minhyun pushed the light button, and the room lit up. No Jonghyun sleeping on the couch. Taking of his shoes, Minhyun walked to Jonghyun’s room. “Jonghyun-ah?” he asked, while knocking on the door. He was met by silence, and opened the door. Jonghyun’s room was also empty, but neater than usual. The boy had made the bed for once, and also folded all clothes and placed them in a pile. 

Minhyun felt his pulse increase out of panic. Jonghyun has not left the apartment since Minhyun had carried him inside. He would not have gone grocery shopping since Minhyun always bought everything. Surely he would have texted Minhyun before heading out? 

His phone! Minhyun quickly took out his phone and pressed Jonghyun’s name in the contact list. The calling tones were reaching out.

Bzz bzz 

Minhyun froze. He slowly walked towards the sound.

Bzz bzz

Jonghyun’s phone was placed on the living room table, right next to the remote control and on top of the coffee table book. Minhyun felt his phone slipping from his hand and falling on the floor with a thud.

Bzz bzz

Jonghyun had left. 

Life after Jonghyun returned to how Minhyun lived before Jonghyun. At first he had tried to look for him, but he soon had to give up. The boy had disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared. Minhyun started to spend longer days at work again, trying to distract himself. But while he had a sense of purpose back then, he now only saw it as a way to divert his thoughts of Jonghyun. His dark tangled hair. His deep brown soft eyes. No matter how much he tried, he could not forget him. 

His colleagues were careful about approaching him outside of directly work-related questions. They could tell how the mood had changed. There was a dark aura over the place. 

It did not take long before the Time After Jonghyun had surpassed the Time With Jonghyun. Minhyun realised how short the time Jonghyun had lived with him really had been. Yet the boy had been able to leave an impression so immense on Minhyun. 

In a last attempt to distract himself, Minhyun decided to accept a coworker’s invite to a group blind date. He regretted it almost instantly. The woman arranging it had picked a dimly lit and loud pub, where you either had to scream to hear each other or talk directly into the other person’s ear. A woman saw this as an excuse to cling to Minhyun’s arm and place her mouth almost directly on his ear. Minhyun felt her breath on him as she talked. 

He excused himself for a moment to go to the bathroom, and the woman pouted as he left. Minhyun stared at himself in the mirror. His dark eye bags standing out against his pale complexion. He knew that even like this he still stood out against the other men at the event. But without an interest in the people there, what was the point really? Minhyun exited the bathroom and returned to the table. He sat down in his seat again and reached for his beer. Tonight, he was getting drunk. 

A few hours later Minhyun stumbled out of the cab outside of his apartment complex. He unsteadily walked up to the door and had to stop and take a moment to steady himself before he could open it. Minhyun slowly walked up to the elevator and hit the button, then letting himself rest his forehead against the wall while waiting for it to come down.

*pling!*

The elevator made a noise to declare that it had arrived. Minhyun regretfully opened his eyes and withdrew his forehead from the cool wall. He managed to hit his floor number on the first try, and then unsteadily stood in the middle of the elevator, waiting as the floor number increased. He stumbled outside once the doors opened on his floor, and started making his way to his apartment.

In his drunkenness, Minhyun did not notice the small figure sitting outside his door until he almost fell over it. The person rubbed his eyes and looked towards Minhyun. “Minhyun?” it said, with Jonghyun’s voice. Jonghyun’s voice? He was definitely drunk now. And that was all Minhyun managed to think before he blacked out. 

The next morning Minhyun woke up on his couch with an exploding headache. It had been too long since he last had this much to drink, and his body clearly had changed since he was a student. Minhyun put his hand over his eyes and groaned. “Minhyun? Are you awake?” a voice asked. Jonghyun’s voice. Suddenly Minhyun remembered coming home last night and that voice and quickly sat up. Only to instantly regret it as his headache worsened, making him close his eyes and again groan of pain.

Once Minhyun could open his eyes again, he was met by the worried eyes of Jonghyun. “How do you feel? Should I get anything for you?” Minhyun had a thousand questions he wanted to ask the boy. But right now he only managed to croak. “Water”. Jonghyun hurried towards the kitchen to fetch a glass of water and Minhyun sunk down a bit on the couch. That was undeniably Jonghyun. Jonghyun was back in his apartment. Jonghyun. 

Jonghyun returned with the glass of water, and Minhyun drank greedily. “Do you feel better?” Jonghyun asked. Minhyun still felt like hell, but the water soaked his throat enough that he felt like he would be able to speak again. “Where did you go?” Jonghyun looked taken aback at the question. He looked away from Minhyun’s unwavering stare. “I just wanted to come and thank you for letting me stay here and to pay you back for rent,” Jonghyun mumbled and held out a scruffy envelope, still not meeting Minhyun’s eyes. 

Minhyun ignored the envelope. “Where did you go?” he asked again, in a softer tone. “I was worried about you.” Jonghyun finally looked back at him. “You were?” he asked with surprise. “Of course I was,” Minhyun said a bit exasperatedly. “I care about you, Jonghyun-ah.” Jonghyun’s face flushed pink in response to Minhyun’s words. He looked away again and Minhyun reached for his hand. “Please sit down so we can talk,” Minhyun said while letting his thumb rub over the back at Jonghyun’s hand, relishing in the skin contact. 

Jonghyun hesitantly sat down. “Now,” Minhyun said. “Please tell me what happened.”

The boy opened his mouth as to say something. Then he closed it again, took a deep breath, and started over. Minhyun watched him intently. Feeling pressured by the stare, Jonghyun instead kept his focus on the corner of the rug. “When you found me I had ran away from university. I had been living in a pc room for a few days, but got robbed and had nowhere to go. I couldn’t handle the pressure from the difficult lectures, and my classmates started making fun of my voice. So all I could think was to get away.” Minhyun let Jonghyun talk without interruption, only softly holding his hand and gently letting his thumb move up and down in a comforting motion. 

“I didn’t want to go home either, since I felt like a disappointment to my parents,” Jonghyun continued in a small voice. “I got spoiled living here and felt like I was taking advantage of you, but I didn’t know where else to go.” Jonghyun stopped and Minhyun squeezed his hand softly, as to say that it was okay. “I really want to pay you back for rent,” Jonghyun extended the envelope again, with the hand Minhyun was not holding. Minhyun shook his head and held up a hand in a stop motion. “Please continue your story first. Where did you go after leaving here?” 

Jonghyun hesitantly put down his extended hand again. “After staying here for awhile I was able to think clearer. And knew I had to go home. Even if I was ashamed, my family were supporting my studies so I had to tell them. They had been really worried for me after my phone was stolen and they hadn’t been able to call me. I hadn’t been thinking about them.” He looked like he was close to tearing up, but all Minhyun could do was to continue holding his hand and to listen. 

”I spent some time with my parents at home, and they helped me decide to change my major. So I will take a break for the rest of the semester and start next. I just returned here to pick up a few items from the dorm and pay you back for letting me stay here.” Jonghyun tried to give Minhyun the envelope with money again, but Minhyun ignored it. “Stay.”

“What?” Jonghyun looked confused. “Stay,” Minhyun repeated. “Please stay here, with me.” 

“Ah, uhm,” Jonghyun looked flustered, and Minhyun realised what he had just said. He felt his own ears heat up. “Uhm, if you want to I really enjoyed having you as a roommate, and it’s near your university so you could live here instead of the dorms when you start studying again,” Minhyun rambled. 

He was not sure if he imagined it or not, but he thought he saw a flash of disappointment in Jonghyun’s eyes. So he decided to take a gamble. “And I like you, Jonghyun-ah.” 

Jonghyun startled at his confession. “I like you, Jonghyun-ah, please move in with me,” Minhyun repeated, looking at the boy with desperate hope. He could not lose him again. 

Jonghyun whispered something inaudible, and Minhyun leaned closer. “...yes…” Jonghyun mumbled and shyly looked at Minhyun. “...I like you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone for reading this! It has been a work-in-progress since I finished Encounter, 5 months ago... I kept getting the occasional email that someone had left kudos on Encounter, which gave me motivated to keep working on Lost & Found. Even if it took long, I hope you enjoy it! ^^ And hopefully next work will take less than 5 months to finish!


End file.
